We already know that Colorado has been a consistent national leader when it comes to foreclosures. Not exactly a title we’re clamoring for.
The bad news (if that isn’t bad enough) is that initial studies this year showing a downward trend in foreclosures may have been premature. This article notes that more than $300 billion worth of hybrid Adjustable Rate Mortgages will readjust this year for the first time and that about $1 trillion worth of hybrid loans are set to readjust next year. What does this mean? Probably that a lot of homeowners will find themselves suddenly unable to pay their mortgages.
But beyond that it means a lot of trouble for homeowners, associations and community. Foreclosures take their toll on both the homeowners losing their homes and (though, perhaps less sympathetically in the public eye) the associations that are trying to collect every last assessment they can to assure that services to remaining homeowners can go on uninterrupted, but one casualty of the foreclosure that is often overlooked is the community. As long as we have owners overextending themselves financially with loan gimmicks and lenders who are willing to help them overextend, we will have neighborhoods with revolving doors and ghost homes where a community once thrived